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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29130924">The Control Brain goes Crazy and Stuff</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReptileRuler/pseuds/ReptileRuler'>ReptileRuler</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>PRaZ FebuWhump [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Invader Zim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(if you count the control brains as characters), Electrocution, M/M, Mind Control, Minor Character Death, Multi, Prazr - Freeform, and the tallest should put a ring on that, but he IS devoted, spooky unnatural body contortions, zim may be stupid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:34:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,409</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29130924</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReptileRuler/pseuds/ReptileRuler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zim finds himself in a Situation, and he has to make a choice between the most important part of Irken society, or the SECOND most important part of Irken society.<br/>Either way there are consequences.</p><p>Febuwhump 2021<br/>Chapter 1: DAY 1: Mind control.<br/>Chapter 2: DAY 23: “Don’t look”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Almighty Tallest/Zim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>PRaZ FebuWhump [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137614</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>febuwhump 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I've decided to participate in the Febuwhump event, and to try to make some content centered around Zim and the Tallest. Because that's all I want. I don't know if what I'm writing truly counts as 'whump', I'm pretty new to the term, but I'll try!</p><p>Do be aware of the tag warnings!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“M-my Tallest?”</p><p>Zim’s voice trembled in such an un-Zim way that he would have to delete the memory of it later, but in the present, he couldn’t care less.</p><p>A pair of wires hung from the almighty Control Brain, straight into his Tallest’s PAKS. They both stared at him with such dull, lifeless eyes. Whatever those rebels had done to the Control Brains, it had broken something important. </p><p>Bodies contorted unnaturally under the control of the Brain. Purple reached for Zim. Zim flinched backwards.</p><p>It was their silence that got to him the most. The Tallest were not quiet. They laughed and joked and insulted their subjects, and they definitely preferred giving orders rather than acting out something themselves. Yet now, they were as quiet as marionettes, and about as compliant as ones, too.</p><p>Zim jumped out of the way as Red tried to grab him, but didn’t get far before Purple managed to wrap a hand around his ankle. Zim yelled, but it did nothing to snap them out of it and he was lifted until he was upside down and at eye-level with Red.</p><p>He couldn’t hurt his Tallest. They were two against one, and he could not fight back without hurting either them or the Control Brain. Both unacceptable. Dread started pooling in his spooch. They were all going to die here.</p><p>A third wire snaked its way down from the corrupted Control Brain. It moved closer to Zim’s PAK.</p><p>“No… NO!”</p><p>He wiggled around and only managed to dangle pathetically in Red’s grasp. Breath hitching, Zim reacted on instinct, letting loose his PAK legs.</p><p>The Brain, or the Tallest. A more compliant Irken would never raise a hand against the very foundation of their society, the supercomputers that controlled all. But Zim had never truly fit in. </p><p>He lashed out against the wire coming for him. A horrible, metallic screech echoed through the chamber when he severed it. Red spasmed and Zim felt himself flail helplessly for a second. </p><p>It took several attempts before his PAK leg made contact with the wire currently controlling the Tallest. The sharp edges cut through the metal like butter. For a short moment a stream of electricity coursed through his leg and into his PAK and body.</p><p>Red <em> screamed. </em>Both he and Zim hit the floor unceremoniously, but Zim had no time to catch his breath or relish in his newfound freedom. He saw Purple coming towards them with twitchy, barely controlled movements. </p><p>Zim jumped onto his PAK legs and leaped towards the wire. He clung to it, dangling above Purple, and used a PAK leg to sever the wire just below himself. The short electric jolt almost had him falling, but Zim hung on tight. Below him, Purple screamed in at least as much pain as Red had done. A sudden movement as the wire retracted upward. Zim turned his gaze to the approaching Control brain. He readied his PAK legs.</p><p>Sharp points shattered glass, dug into ancient wiring. Zim stabbed his legs as deeply into the Irken supercomputer as he could.</p><p>Unmanageable amounts of electricity attacked all his senses at once. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear or feel anything but the jolts and jolts of pain. Scrambling for something to hold onto, he forced his legs deeper into the Control Brain. </p><p>Some other, incomprehensible feedback made itself known in the back of his buzzing mind. Words, maybe. Thoughts, but not his own. Whispers of the knowledge of all of Irkenkind, from their very first ventures out of their burrows, to their current days of conquest and glory. Visions of planets he hadn’t visited, Irkens he’d never seen. Data, statistics, protocols, court rulings, objectives and decisions and requests-</p><p>Then at once, the pain and information overload ceased. Something sputtered. Zim smelled burnt flesh and overheated electricity. </p><p>He was vaguely aware of falling backwards. Hitting the ground from this height may very well break his spine. The notion barely affected him.</p><p>The impact stole his breath away, but he didn’t break any bones. He thought. A pair of slender arms had caught him, and someone was chirping a tired, yet comforting tune. He blinked and caught a bleary, purple-eyed figure leaning over him. </p><p>“Stupid, tiny thing”, Purple huffed, “I can’t believe you just murdered a Control Brain.”</p><p>Zim opened his mouth to reply that, of course, Zim is great, and he would do it again for his Tallest. But his mouth was filled with cotton and his tongue felt numb, and nothing but a weak garbled sound escaped. </p><p>He closed his eyes as someone stroked his cheek. The scent of both Red and Purple was here now, they were both safe, and keeping him close. While his muscles were sore beyond compare, and his head beat louder than a wardrum, and he felt generally oversensitive to any sort of stimulus, Zim found himself relaxing.</p><p>Any normal Irken would get in great trouble for what he’d done, no matter how good the reasons were. But he was Zim! The Tallest would pardon him for sure, and then maybe promote him, and maybe let him drive the Massive, and then-</p><p>With a peaceful smile on his face, Zim slipped into a regenerative slumber, cradled in his leaders’ arms.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Trial (no. not that one. this is a different trial)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>HELLO. I really struggled with coming up with something for today's prompt. Then I had the idea to make a li'l continuation of day 1. So here it is. I dunno if this makes any sense. The plot holes are many... so be careful lest you fall into one! Also, I keep trying to make angst but then Zim's just an IDIOT and it all turns into humor and chaos. Such is life I guess.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The Control Brains connected to his PAK with the same intrusive feeling as always. All Zim could do was grit his teeth against the sensation of </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrongness</span>
  </em>
  <span> as their almighty presence scoured through his very being. He stumbled forward, and might have fallen if the cords didn’t lift him high into the air once connection had been established. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Irken invader Zim”, the Brains spoke, their unified voices booming across the surface of planet Judgementia. “You are convicted for the murder of a fellow Control Brain, a crime punishable by not only death, but complete erasure of your ID PAK.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But my amazing Zim-life!” he exclaimed. All the things he’d done! All of his amazing explosions and accomplishments! He turned to the podium where the Almighty Tallest stood. Only Red was present at the trial, and he looked down at Zim with a tight-lipped frown, hands gripping the edge of the podium. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I saved you, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>if it were not for me, that Brain would have killed you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You cannot delete </span>
  <em>
    <span>me!</span>
  </em>
  <span> I am ZIM! Don’t you know how important I am?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> “It thinks it is important”, said the left Brain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It believes an individual Irken could ever matter”, said the right one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Foolish”, the center Brain said, and then all three spoke in unison,</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Irken Zim. Prepare for Replay. Starting at the moment you elected to kill the Brain.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A rare Thought made itself known inside of Zim’s mind. On that day, the Tallest had been very kind to him. Which he deserved, clearly. But the fact remained that he had killed the Brain, and the Tallest had </span>
  <em>
    <span>taken care of him. </span>
  </em>
  <span>If the Brains knew, they could use that against the Tallest! That couldn’t happen!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zim could not be responsible for the death of the Almighty Tallest again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t look!” he yelled, “Don’t look at Zim’s memories!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He trashed, but the cords attached to him barely budged. A monitor lit up, and he saw, in his memory, how his PAK leg skewered a wire coming towards him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No, no. They couldn't know. They couldn’t! But Zim was helpless against the Brains, unable to fight their influence as they played out the scene. Him flying upwards along with a retreating wire, his PAK legs jamming into it-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The crowd of onlookers gasped, Zim’s breath hitched in trepidation, and-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>- and darkness, as though someone had pulled the plug to all lights in the building. It wasn’t Zim’s fault - he looked at the anti-insanity filter installed specifically for him after that other trial he’d been in. It was working flawlessly. So why had it gone dark?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was jerked around, and then falling. The loss of the Brains so jarring that he didn’t even scream as the ground closed in. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Someone caught him. Soft, clean-smelling fabric - a cloak, maybe - enveloped him, and then he felt the particular jolting of being carried by a person running. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? What??” Zim tried to catch his wits. He wiggled around, but his capturer only held him tighter. “Hey! Release me! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Release Zim! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Couldn’t you tell I was in the middle of a very important trial!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh shut up!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zim paused. He recognized that voice. They were still moving, rapidly leaving the Control Brains behind, and the bustle of what must be guards realizing what had happened. He looked up, seeing only a hooded figure, but…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My Tallest? Tallest Purple, is that you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut </span>
  <em>
    <span>up, </span>
  </em>
  <span>do you want anyone realizing?” Purple snapped.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I- Zim- What is going on?” He looked over Purple’s back, and noted that, whatever the guards were doing, they weren’t really doing a great job at chasing them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re getting the heck out of here, alright? Just shut up!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zim frowned. This was unexpected. Trials did not usually have an escape element, did they? Well, not that he wouldn’t have tried to escape, given the chance, but…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They slowed down, and Zim realized that they were in front of a large ship. The door was open, and Purple brought them both inside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“H’okay”, Purple said, slightly out of breath. He placed Zim on a nice, soft passenger seat, “we made it. Now we just wait, and-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m here!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zim’s head snapped to the door. Tallest Red stood there, looking like he’d run as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My Tallest?” He exclaimed, as the same time as Purple said,</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How were you so fast!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re the one who was slow. Let’s go”, Red marched past them and pressed several buttons on the control panels.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zim blinked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whuh? H-HEY! What is going on?? Is this part of the trial?!” he stood on the (very, very nice seat) and shouted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you get here alright?” Purple said to Red.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It wasn’t a problem - good job cutting the power off.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks man.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No one realized what happened. The guards were waiting for orders but I was already out of there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hah, I would've loved to see their faces when they realized.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were ignoring him!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey! Hey! My Tallest! What is the meaning of this?” The ship hummed to life, and Zim almost lost his footing when it jolted up, off of Judgementia’s surface. “Where are we going?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Two pairs of eyes turned towards him. The Tallest were in the pilot and co-pilot seats respectively, Red clad in the official trial robes, and Purple in some more comfortable pants and a long, violet cloak with a hood. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey”, Purple said, “where ARE we going?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Red shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Earth’s as good a place as any to begin with,” he said, “Zim’s got all his stuff there anyway.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zim perked up. The trial he’d just left behind left his mind in a similarly abrupt way. The tallest, on earth!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Excellent choice, my Tallest! I can’t wait to show you all my evil plans. The planet will soon be ripe for the armada!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... Yeah. The armada isn’t coming”, Red said and swerved back to the control panel. “And you can stop calling us your Tallest now, I guess.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? But…” Zim’s right antenna bounced up as he tried to comprehend this. “If you are coming to earth, why is the armada not coming soon, too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zim. Zim, Zim. Lemme explain”, Purple said as he got up. He looked quite nice in the cloak, Zim though idly. All that tallness combined with elegant mystery? Neat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His thoughts were interrupted when Purple lifted him off of his seat and sat down where Zim had just been standing, placing Zim in his lap. “Remember how you brutally murdered a Control Brain for us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes”, Zim nodded, only marginally distracted by their closeness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, good. And you realize that killing a Control Brain is pretty illegal, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zim looked away, “Yes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh-huh. But you’re aware that you literally saved our butts that time?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes!” Zim said, with more conviction this time. He had done so good! Purple nodded, like a patient earth-father explaining to his children why they cannot have candy for breakfast.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good! So”, Purple held up a finger, “it wouldn’t be very fun to just let them kill you, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, no, but”, Zim had an excellent counterpoint, “you would never want Zim dead in any situation!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mmm… Anyway”, Purple looked to the side, “this is repay. For your help and stuff. Also, we’re definitely breaking the law and so we're all wanted men now.” he concluded, speaking faster at the end as though he just wanted to get it over with.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? Oh, my Tallest”, Zim waved his hand around, “you cannot break the law. And neither can I, for we are all above it! I thank you for this repayment of my services, you can drop me off on earth and I will continue with my mission and you can return to the Massive!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yes, it was all working out! The Brains didn’t have any knowledge to use against the Tallest, and Zim was free to live another day!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Tallest shared a glance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s definitely not possible”, Red said, “but it’s fine. We agreed that this would be fine, so it will be. We’ll go to earth, your mission is cancelled, obviously, but-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“-it wasn’t like it mattered in the first place. And we’ll figure it out from there. I haven’t lived on a planet for years, so I wouldn’t mind staying for awhile, I guess. Or we could just live on this ship. It’s big enough.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My mission, cancelled??” Zim gasped. His Tallest both groaned, but he barely noticed. “But, why? I was so close!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We just told you why, Zim!” Red snapped. He was snarling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But, the mission!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Purple placed a hand on Zim’s head, and, miraculously, it calmed him down a little. He still could not leave his precious invader mission behind, though. The mere thought, unthinkable! It was a special, secret mission that he cherished more than anything!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ship was set on autopilot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zim found himself sitting between his Tallest, as they explained to him once again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And a third time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(A fourth time, that hardly counted, because Red was holding him upside down by the foot and yelling at him.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After that, Zim was beginning to accept, yes, even look forward, to this new and strange future.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No Zim you're gonna get exiled lol</p></blockquote></div></div>
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